Our fat, old _Betty_ sweats and blows; She does not see how near he stands, And when she bangs the _Door, Good Lands_! It’ most cuts off his _Nose_. [Illustration: How Boots befooled the King.] XI. Once upon a time there was a king who was the wisest in all of the world. So wise was he that no one had ever befooled him, which is a rare thing, I can tell you. Now, this king had a daughter who was as pretty as a ripe apple, so that there was no end to the number of the lads who came asking to marry her. Every day there were two or three of them dawdling around the house, so that at last the old king grew tired of having them always about. So he sent word far and near that whoever should befool him might have the princess and half of the kingdom to boot, for he thought that it would be a wise man indeed who could trick him. But the king also said, that whoever should try to befool him and should fail, should have a good whipping. This was to keep all foolish fellows away. The princess was so pretty that there was no lack of lads who came to have a try for her and half of the kingdom, but every one of these went away with a sore back and no luck. Now, there was a man who was well off in the world, and who had three sons; the first was named Peter, and the second was named Paul. Peter and Paul thought themselves as wise as anybody in all of the world, and their father thought as they did. As for the youngest son, he was named Boots. Nobody thought anything of him except that he was silly, for he did nothing but sit poking in the warm ashes all of the day. One morning Peter spoke up and said that he was going to the town to have a try at befooling the king, for it would be a fine thing to have a princess in the family. His father did not say no, for if anybody was wise enough to befool the king, Peter was the lad. So, after Peter had eaten a good breakfast, off he set for the town, right foot foremost. After a while he came to the king’s house and—rap! tap! tap!—he knocked at the door. Well; what did he want? Oh! he would only like to have a try at befooling the king. Very good; he should have his try. He was not the first one who had been there that morning, early as it was. So Peter was shown in to the king. “Oh, look!” said he, “yonder are three black geese out in the court-yard” But no, the king was not to be fooled so easily as all that. “One goose is enough to look at at a time,” said he; “take him away and give him a whipping!” And so they did, and Peter went home bleating like a sheep. One day Paul spoke up. “I should like to go and have a try for the princess, too,” said he. Well, his father did not say no, for, after all, Paul was the more clever of the two. So off Paul went as merrily as a duck in the rain. By and by he came to the castle, and then he too was brought before the king just as Peter had been.